What's a Discharge Petition?

• In the House of Representatives, a discharge petition starts a process to force a bill out of committee and onto the House floor for a vote. The petition “discharges” the committee from further consideration of the bill.
• A discharge petition requires an absolute majority (218 lawmakers) to force a floor vote on the bill.

Why It Matters

• A discharge petition with the support of 218 or more Representatives holds even if leaders who control the house floor oppose the measure.
• Because House rules confer substantial control to the majority party, if the majority leadership doesn’t want a bill to be considered, it generally won’t be.
• The discharge petition is one of the few mechanisms by which that majority control can be bypassed.
• Discharge petitions are seldom successful, as they require support from at least some members of the majority party in order to obtain enough signatures.

Recent Applications

• At the end of May, more than 200 lawmakers—including 20 Republicans, who hold the majority—had signed a discharge petition to force a series of votes on immigration. Republican leaders have been working to halt the petition, fearing it will yield power to the Democratic minority.

Image Credit: U.S. House of Representatives

--Sara E. Murphy